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Original poster

Just seen Billie Eilish report on news. What a load of bollocks...

363 replies

ssd · 03/05/2021 11:07

Honestly it must he a total head nip being young these days. 19 yr olds telling us not to body shame then appearing in vogue in a corset. But said 19 yr old being an expert in telling us how to feel, and of course that stupid trendy word 'empowerment ' used as much as possible. Maybe it was the same in my day, but then social media wasnt about to give eedgits a platform to be an expert on everything. Pop stars always got too much attention, but now with sm it must be increased tenfold.
Thank fuck I'm old and middle aged.

OP posts:
WandaLust101 · 03/05/2021 11:13

Why do you care?

JoyOrbison · 03/05/2021 11:14

Ha, I started a thread about this last night... Mixed responses as to it being disappointing that a fresh voice for girls look up to that image doesn't have to focus on confirming to traditional expectations of women / 'feminine' dress or sex appeal etc... And when she has chosen to refresh or change her appearance she picks plastic underwear.. Change your apprwance but to roll straight to the most clichéd look for women, especially in music, see little mix, girls aloud etc, they all progress the same way.. Nothing wrong with changing your look but everything she stood for is conflicted against her new look.

Spr0cker50 · 03/05/2021 11:15

Its sad but they all end up that way. I remember I loved Jessie J and she was all about body image and love yourself and all that. A year later she was doing half naked music videos just like the rest of them!

PinkiOcelot · 03/05/2021 11:18

@WandaLust101 🙄🙄🙄
Why do people come on threads and post rubbish like yours?!

HazeyJaneII · 03/05/2021 11:18

Reminded me of this by Neil Hannon
Generation sex respects the rights of girls
Who want to take their clothes off
As long as we can all watch that’s okay

Empowering my arse.

Sparklfairy · 03/05/2021 11:18

She's 19, why can't she play dress up* for a magazine shoot? It's not body shaming, she's hardly a size zero. She's saying that she can and will wear what she wants when she wants.

Before anyone tries to pull me up for that comment, it's a phrase Christina Aguilera used to use for her various looks. It's all having fun and experimenting, especially at that age.

Original poster
ssd · 03/05/2021 11:20

Yep, it must be difficult having teenage girls now, the role models always end up in a corset somehow or other...

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Ponoka7 · 03/05/2021 11:23

One of her latest interviews is about how her peer group have all experienced inappropriate sexual behaviour. She talks about how older men shouldn't be targeting teenage girls.
It wasn't the same in 'our' day, women over 16, were considered fair game. So I'm glad it's changed. In my day girls over 14 were considered ok to date as long as they looked older. She might be 19 but she's correct that any woman, regardless of status can be a victim. Think about the messages that society gave to 14-20 year old women when you were 19, which are better?

Original poster
ssd · 03/05/2021 11:23

@Sparklfairy

She's 19, why can't she play dress up* for a magazine shoot? It's not body shaming, she's hardly a size zero. She's saying that she can and will wear what she wants when she wants.

Before anyone tries to pull me up for that comment, it's a phrase Christina Aguilera used to use for her various looks. It's all having fun and experimenting, especially at that age.

She can wear what she wants, no one is stopping her. Its the hypocrisy of it all. And its rhe way these folk set themselves up as experts in how we should feel, based on how they are feeling at that time. I remember being 19 and thinking i knew it all, i was probably a pain in the arse but at least i didnt have a huge sm platform to spout my crap from....
OP posts:
Original poster
ssd · 03/05/2021 11:27

@Ponoka7

One of her latest interviews is about how her peer group have all experienced inappropriate sexual behaviour. She talks about how older men shouldn't be targeting teenage girls. It wasn't the same in 'our' day, women over 16, were considered fair game. So I'm glad it's changed. In my day girls over 14 were considered ok to date as long as they looked older. She might be 19 but she's correct that any woman, regardless of status can be a victim. Think about the messages that society gave to 14-20 year old women when you were 19, which are better?
Totally disagree with you there. We weren't fair game in my day, older men coming onto young girls were sent packing then, same as now. Nothing much has changed really, except sm.
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Ponoka7 · 03/05/2021 11:27

Also Vogue is a fashion magazine and she's done three other covers.

TiredSloth · 03/05/2021 11:28

19 yr olds telling us not to body shame then appearing in vogue in a corset.

@ssd why are these two things related?

Sparklfairy · 03/05/2021 11:29

@ssd true. Nothing worse than being patronised by a young'un! Grin I just took her message more as a 'wear what you want, dress down and cover up if you want, dress up and sexy if you want, neither is wrong'

That said, with a new album coming out shortly it's common for a completely different look to accompany that. Particularly as she was 13 when her first song came out, she's probably embracing the becoming a woman claptrap that was inappropriate before now. In a few years she'll settle down again Grin

TiredSloth · 03/05/2021 11:31

Isn’t she trying to say that women should be able to wear what they want without fear of people judging and body shaming them? Whether that be a tracksuit or a corset?

steff13 · 03/05/2021 11:32

@TiredSloth

Isn’t she trying to say that women should be able to wear what they want without fear of people judging and body shaming them? Whether that be a tracksuit or a corset?
Yes. I'm struggling to understand the problem, personally.
Ponoka7 · 03/05/2021 11:32

@ssd
"We weren't fair game in my day, older men coming onto young girls were sent packing then, same as now."

What year was that? I was a teenager when Bill Wyman went out with 15/4 year old Mandy Smith. A French politician was dating a 13 year old. Then we had Chris Evans, in his 30's chasing 16 year old Billie Piper. Did you live in a bubble which was ahead of its time around exploitation/ coercion/Domestic abuse etc? Because that's the only explanation. You might have been lucky to have good men around you, but that doesn't mirror most women's experience. It was fine for school girls to get sexually harassed on the way home. No one reacted.

OwlBeThere · 03/05/2021 11:36

She doesn’t claim to be an expert at anything? You know they ask her these questions right? She doesn’t get to choose what they ask her and it would make for a pretty shit interview to not give her thoughts when asked questions.
She’s also not a hypocrite to say that body shaming her is shit ans then wear a corset. The whole point is it’s HER body to do with as she chooses.
She’s also a kid growing up in the harshest industry, don’t be such a dick.

BrumBoo · 03/05/2021 11:37

@TiredSloth

19 yr olds telling us not to body shame then appearing in vogue in a corset.

@ssd why are these two things related?

Came to ask exactly this.

BE is still a teen, yet has already been abused, groomed and then followed around by paparazzi trying to get pictures of her young body as she often wears baggy clothes. Now she wears a corset and apparently is a hypocrite? If she had no natural curves, would taking off the oversized hoodie still make her a hypocrite, or is it just because she has a particular body shape?

Let's make it absolutely clear here, nothing young women like her choose to do with how they dress their bodies make them hypocritical at all. That is one step from victim blaming for the sexual harassment and abuse they inevitably suffer. They are not shaming themselves or anyone else whether they're in a corset, or covered head to toe.

Filing this one under 'more bollocks men don't have to face'....

OwlBeThere · 03/05/2021 11:37

I agree @Ponoka7 I had a boyfriend in his 30s when I was 16, so did plenty of my friends. No one cared.

Ponoka7 · 03/05/2021 11:38

"Particularly as she was 13 when her first song came out, she's probably embracing the becoming a woman claptrap that was inappropriate before now"

You can enjoy your body, once you are able to emotionally deal with the public reaction. That's the age she's reached. Just because you start to enjoy your sexuality doesn't mean that you aren't also focused on other aspects of your life. There's a lot on MN who'd like sex to not exist, but some of us like to indulge that side of us occasionally. Why is she suddenly being reacted to like this, because she's wearing a corset? Has it changed who she is?

PlanDeRaccordement · 03/05/2021 11:42

19 yr olds telling us not to body shame then appearing in vogue in a corset. But said 19 yr old being an expert in telling us how to feel,

I fail to see the hypocrisy here. Nothing wrong with a corset. In fact corsets are more comfortable than a modern bra and have just as much support. They also act as a back brace which was needed when housework was heavy physical labour....eg doing the laundry. I also think they are more modest than a lacy bra as well.

I also dont think Billie Ellish is telling anyone how to feel. She’s just talking about her feelings.

Roominmyhouse · 03/05/2021 11:45

I hate all the 'role model' bullshit. She doesn't owe it to anyones children to be a role model for them, she's a singer and a teenager. She can wear what she likes.

noblegiraffe · 03/05/2021 11:45

It's a bit depressing that 'choosing to wear what I want' for so many young women appears to be 'choosing to pose in underwear'.

It's not female empowerment if what you are doing is exactly what men would like to see, even if you say it's your choice.

Ecruelworld · 03/05/2021 11:47

I just find it depressing that for females in the music industry there is always a focus on their bodies. Looking strong, looking sexy, looking fierce, pouting, sticking out bums etc etc. Why can the music and the body of the woman performing it ever seem to be separated? Musicians in other genres don’t have this focus on their body bound up with their music. A classical musician can still be someone people will pay to hear even if they are totally average looking. It shouldn’t matter if Billie Eilish has green hair and a baggy top or blonde hair and stockings and suspenders. Yet it does. And it’s shit.

Original poster
ssd · 03/05/2021 11:48

@OwlBeThere

I agree *@Ponoka7* I had a boyfriend in his 30s when I was 16, so did plenty of my friends. No one cared.
That didn't happen to any of my friends.
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